The Department of Government Efficiency arrived at the headquarters of the Peace Corps on Saturday, ready to make more cuts wherever it finds waste, fraud and abuse, NBC News reported.
“Staff from the Department of Government Efficiency are currently working at Peace Corps headquarters and the agency is supporting their requests," the Peace Corps' press office said.
While no information is yet available about areas or programs for cuts, the organization reportedly supports DOGE's efforts.
"These visits at other federal agencies have led to major funding cuts," the association said in a post to Facebook. "We don’t yet know the full impact, but we’re watching closely."
The Corps has struggled in recent years to get enough volunteers, with its "fill rate" only at 63% in 2023.
The Senate Foreign Relations and House Foreign Affairs committees oversee the Corps's activities, which have a $430 million yearly budget.
It's a large number, but it represents only one-tenth of 1% of the federal budget.
There have been attempts to increase the budget by another $40 million or so, but the legislation has not been passed.
The organization's 3,300 volunteers work to develop and assist foreign nations in the areas of education, health, youth development, community economic development, environment and agriculture.
The volunteers do get paid something when they complete their 27 months of volunteering, typically a readjustment allowance of just over $10,000 and student loan forgiveness, among other benefits.
There has traditionally been bipartisan support for its activities, but the cuts have to come from somewhere.
No doubt DOGE and the federal government will be weighing whether the benefits of the Corps outweigh the cost.
It may be something that DOGE determines is not as important as working on balancing the budget and tackling the giant pile of debt that the last few presidents have racked up.
Even if DOGE only identifies some useless cogs in the machine, it will help reach the goal of a balanced budget.
